Kobe Bryant named player of the week for 3rd time

[dockingsched]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/03/16/play ... index.html

NEW YORK -- The Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 9, through Sunday, March 15.

Bryant paced the Western Conference in scoring (28.5 ppg) and added 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists, leading the Lakers to a 3-1 week. In a 102-95 win over San Antonio on March 12, Bryant recorded 23 points and six assists as the Lakers clinched their 20th Pacific Division title and their 56th postseason appearance in 61 NBA seasons. This is Bryant's third Player of the Week Award this season.

player of the week count:
bryant, kobe: 3
gasol, pau: 2
bynum, andrew: 1
walton, luke: 0

[Erik Eleven]

How many does LBJ have?

[crazyeights]

why'd you have to go bring LuWal Damned into this?

[butter17]

WELL DESERVED BY KOBE BRYANT MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP!

[Plastered]

what no DJ?

[hermes]

congrats Kobe, and what 2 player of the months?

[Erik Eleven]

:lol: why'd you have to go bring LuWal Damned into this?

Because I'm preparing myself not to get too disappointed when LBJ gets the MVP, something which would be very unfair unless Cleveland has the better record at the end of it all. But then again, if they have the same record or similar, and LBJ puts up better stats (which he does), he'll probably get it. That's why I wanted to know how many POW he collected this season.

[semi-sentient]

I don't think you can be disappointed if LeBron wins it over Kobe. Well, you can, but I don't think you should be. LeBron is putting up better overall stats and he has managed to keep his team dead even with the Lakers despite a slightly inferior supporting cast. Overall he has had to deal with more injury as well. There just aren't many arguments that you can make as to why Kobe deserves it over him, outside of Kobe performing better against playoff caliber opponents.

Kobe is likely going to finish 2nd and I think that's fine. Overall I still think he's a more skilled player and I like our chances to win it all despite how the MVP voting goes.

[LoveThemCavs]

How many does LBJ have?

6

[AceFresh]

LeBron has had my vote all season, and still does.

[magic1fan]

I don't think you can be disappointed if LeBron wins it over Kobe. Well, you can, but I don't think you should be. LeBron is putting up better overall stats and he has managed to keep his team dead even with the Lakers despite a slightly inferior supporting cast. Overall he has had to deal with more injury as well. There just aren't many arguments that you can make as to why Kobe deserves it over him, outside of Kobe performing better against playoff caliber opponents.

Kobe is likely going to finish 2nd and I think that's fine. Overall I still think he's a more skilled player and I like our chances to win it all despite how the MVP voting goes.

see semi i thinks that's where the picture get's cloudy. lebron is really not playing with an inferior cast. the media loves to say that in order to hype him up. let's face it their bench right now is playing better than ours. Lebron has a better point guard than kobe. plus his team plays better defense which keeps them in more games. lebron is playing great,but he is doing no more for his team than kobe is doing for his. if we end up with the better record(which seems less likely after last night) there is no way they can justify giving it to lebron over kobe,especially since kobe shut him down in la,and played decent against him in cleveland despite being ill.

[Sedale Threatt]

I really think you can. He's putting up numbers that only Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson ever has, and he's cranked them up even higher over the past month or so (30-8-8 with a 15-2 record). Kobe's having a great season, LeBron's having a historic season.

I agree totally that people are far too willing to underrate Cleveland's roster in order to pump up LeBron's case. That's a solid team, especially on the defensive end.

But there's no way on earth anybody would have guessed that group would have been good enough to win 65-plus games, as well as make a run at the best home record in basketball history. I would have said 60 tops.

So from this vantage point, I can't see how it's not a pretty decisive victory for LeBron. And as SS said, finishing second to a player/season like that is hardly an insult.

[magic1fan]

I really think you can. He's putting up numbers that only Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson ever has, and he's cranked them up even higher over the past month or so (30-8-8 with a 15-2 record). Kobe's having a great season, LeBron's having a historic season.

I agree totally that people are far too willing to underrate Cleveland's roster in order to pump up LeBron's case. That's a solid team, especially on the defensive end.

But there's no way on earth anybody would have guessed that group would have been good enough to win 65-plus games, as well as make a run at the best home record in basketball history. I would have said 60 tops.

So from this vantage point, I can't see how it's not a pretty decisive victory for LeBron. And as SS said, finishing second to a player/season like that is hardly an insult.

i won't argue against lebrons numbers,they are great,but the mvp award is not about numbers. it's supposed to be about the team. kobe imo does just as much as any other star to help his team win. if the lakers have a better record, i don't see why kobe shouldn't be the front runner. just my opinion.